Why I’ve Fallen Out of Love with Instagram

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know I haven’t been feeling very inspired over there recently. I think as bloggers, and as people, we all have these moments. We feel like our content sucks. Like we’re not growing. Like we’re not being creative or interesting enough (that one, in particular, I’ve been feeling recently). It’s a self-esteem issue that seems to be pretty common in the blogging community, and recently, it’s made me feel a lot like giving up. I’ve been feeling a little at a loss with Instagram at the moment. I honestly have had no idea how to theme my photos anymore (still don’t, though I’m back to posting now). So, here’s why I’ve fallen out of love with Instagram.

I came to a point where I realised that I was having all of these ideas in my head about outfits, places to shoot – but I hated actually posting. And this isn’t just a whiney post about the Instagram algorithm (although that is part of what’s been getting me down – my engagement has basically halved). But, it’s more that, as soon as I actually went to upload my content to Instagram, I began comparing myself to others.

Deep-rooted feelings of ‘not being good enough’ set in. Everyone else at the moment, I’m thinking, has these pristine themes created with Lightroom presets that have this warm/orangey hue that – honestly? – I have absolutely no idea how to create. It’s been a constant nagging in my head: what if my camera quality isn’t as good? Other people shoot with iPhones, but my photo seems a lot more grainy than theirs? And so on, until often, a few hours after posting the photo to my feed, I already don’t like it.

Not only just on Instagram, but I’ve been feeling generally uninspired. I’m sat writing this post as 12AM on a Tuesday – I have to be up in a few hours for uni – but I haven’t felt this inspired in a while. I’m a big believer in expressing my creativity as soon as I feel inspired. Whether that’s in the middle of the night or on a crowded tube at rush hour, I try to write all my ideas down as soon as I think of them.

So, when I was lying in bed and had the idea for this blog post, I knew I had to write it. This is an issue which affects so many of us, so often. To be honest, I used to think if I didn’t post on Instagram for a day the world would end. I’d lose hundreds of followers, brands would stop working with me, etc. It’s been almost two weeks now since I last posted and I’ve only lost about 40. The only thing I’ve been using Instagram for being to watch other people’s stories. I’d been posting because I felt like I had to post, rather than wanting to. And I want to get back to wanting to.

I need to have a healthier relationship with social media, so I’m glad I took the break. It was completely unintentional and unplanned – to be honest, it just came from me being fed up. But it’s made me realise that I don’t have to post all the time. Because after all, the reason I started blogging & Instagramming was because I enjoyed it. So here’s to just being me, without worrying too much about what other people do. Screw the perfect Lightroom preset. While I may not have been in love with Instagram recently, I’m determined to get back to liking it.

Collaboration with Smith & Canova

On that cheerful note, I’m also grateful to collaborate recently with the lovely people at Smith & Canova, who sent me the gorgeous backpack in this post. I’d been looking for the perfect backpack for uni for a while, but I’ve never been a massive backpack girl. I wanted something fun & cute, not too heavy. Most of you probably know about my current pink obsession. So, as soon as I saw Smith & Canova’s offering in the perfect shade of milennial pink, I had to have it.

Smith & Canova have a long family heritage of over 100 years, selling a variety of luxury leather goods. Their focus not only on design but also on attention to detail produces very high quality bags. Personally, I was really impressed with the quality of the leather. I work in the Accessories Hall at Selfridges so I know a high quality bag when I see one, and I immediately knew the backpack going to last me a long time. For once, a backpack I could actually use every day. I also loved the beautiful packaging. Packaged in a dustbag and then wrapped in tissue paper in a box, it was luxury, for a much more affordable price.

Smith & Canova not only stocks bags but also other leather accessories from purses to gloves which would make lovely gifts. I’m wearing is the Josephine Flapover Dot Fastening Backpack, but can shop the full Smith & Canova range here.

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1 Comment

Nina, amazing post ❤️ can 100% relate to every single word of this. It seems like the more blog posts I read, the more I am reading about people falling out of love with Instagram. It really, really is tough times over there.
A channel that was the trailblazer for platforms of creative expression. It really can feel like a numbers game sometimes. Loved the post babe. As always x
Faithy x